(1) #ElonMusk isn’t just buying #twitter, he’s buying every DM, private tweet, and bit of metadata it has, and I’m terrified what that means for society. As a private company loosely governed by a vague privacy policy, he’ll have free reign over unfathomable data. #twittersold
(2) People are rightfully fearful of what Musk’s acquisition means for content moderation and the return of abusive figures like Trump. But I’m just as worried about what he will do with this disturbing trove of our most intimate moments. #TwitterTakeover
(3) Tech CEOs long abused their access to our supposedly private information, part of what has driven so many of us to demand safeguards like end-to-end encryption. But Elon won’t only have more legal power to abuse access, he won’t care about the reputational costs if caught.
(4) Just like Trump, Elon showed how to build a following by breaking the norms around how power should be wielded. It’s been nauseating to watch in his prior companies, but it’s dangerous for democracy with a Twitter. Now when he’s erratic, discourse & civil society will suffer.
(5) Social media platform governance is broken today, but I’m terrified we’ll soon look back at this moment as a comparative golden age. Social media CEOs, as bad as they are, follow some norms, share some desire for legitimacy. What happens when those norms crumble?#twittersold
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